A Long Shift
by lifes2real
Summary: A call as her shift ends has Jennifer pushing herself trying to find answers.


A Long Shift

Spoilers : No specific - Mid-Season 5 or later

Basic Disclaimer : The toys you recognize are not mine. I just took them out of their box and played with them for a while. I promise to put them away when I'm done.

Summary : A call as her shift ends has Jennifer pushing herself trying to find answers.

Author's Note

After reading the story Family by MissMayHem85 plot bunnies procreated. This is one of their offspring. Others are in the works.

~*~-.-~*~-.-~*~

Jennifer Keller looked around the infirmary, now empty. Lorne's team had just filtered out, off to scrub sand from unmentionable places. Normally Evan and his team were pretty good about sitting around waiting through the scans and the poking and prodding during the post mission physicals but even Evan was starting to get antsy by the time everything came back and Jennifer released them. With a smile, Jennifer grabbed the broom and tried tracking down all the loose sand while Marie and the other night nurse were grabbing changes for the beds. _And __probably __a __coffee_, Jennifer thought, caught by a yawn, _Hope __they __grab __one __for __me_. She had just changed over to nights and wasn't quite used to the schedule, usually preferring the morning to mid shifts as she was a morning person. 0230 was late when she wasn't focused on a project.

Lulled by the rhythm of the monotonous task, Jennifer jumped when when Marie called her name. "Don't do..." she trailed off as she turned, her attempt at a stern face changed to a sunny smile as she saw the extra mug in her hand. "Oh... for me?"

Marie laughed as she handed over the mug, "Coffee cut with hot chocolate."

Closing her eyes, Jennifer stood there a moment, savoring the smell before taking the first sip. "Marie, you are a goddess. Sugar and caffeine, just what I needed."

Leaning back on the bed behind her, Marie waved off the goddess remark with a smile. "First day of shift change is always hard. I'm glad that you stagger them out so we don't have everyone lagging at the same time."

"I don't know why I always find working the overnight harder. It's not like I don't work late anyways." Jennifer smiled ruefully, "I think it's a mental thing. I can't up and leave to go to bed at any time, where I don't feel the desire to do that in the middle of the day so it isn't an issue."

"Well, you may have a mental thing," Marie said, setting her coffee aside. Grinning at the tongue that Jennifer stuck out at her, Marie pulled on a pair of gloves and began stripping the bed that she had been leaning on. After one last sip from her own mug, Jennifer followed suit, grabbing the broom and getting back to prepping the infirmary for new patients.

~*~-.-~*~-.-~*~

With a sleepy smile, Jennifer handed the patient file to Karen Neely. "Anne is sleeping on bed three."

Dr. Neely eyed the walking cast, "Sergent Teldy broke her ankle?"

Jennifer shook her head, "No, just a severe sprain, but I don't want her doing anything to strenuous for the next few days, the walking cast is a reminder." She shrugged, "She's not as bad as Laura, but when I said sprain she jumped off the bed to go to her room."

"So she's here for observation?"

"No," Jennifer said with a grin. "She's here because after jumping off the bed she landed on her bad ankle. She's out due to the pain pills that I gave her."

Dr. Neely looked through the file, verifying everything that Jennifer said. "Tramadol, 50mg?"

"She can drink anyone under the table, but narcotics drop her on her ass, which is why she's still here. I debated on giving her half, but after her stunt I gave her a full dose and made her stay here."

Jennifer watched Dr. Neely file that bit of information away. Nodding once, she turned to leave the infirmary when her headset went off, "Lorne to Dr. Keller."

The smile that started when she heard Evan's voice changed as she registered his tone. "This is Keller. What's up?"

"Jen, can you come to my quarters?"

Turning away from the mess and towards the transporter, Jennifer ignored the panic flaring in her gut from the lost tone of Evan's voice. "On my way." She responded briskly, picking up her pace. As she approached the transporter she knew she needed more information, walking into a situation blind was stupid if it could be helped. And she needed to know if she should turn around now to get supplies or a med team. The cold stone dropped into her gut was forcefully shoved away as she tuned out the 'What's wrong with my friend?' voice and focused on the 'What needs to be done?' voice.

"Evan, I need a heads up on what I'm walking into." Jennifer's voice was quiet, the second voice mandating the question but the first setting the tone.

"Doc," There was a small tremor in Lorne's voice before he brought it under control and responded as if he were giving a mission report, only the slight clip in his normally smooth timbre letting her know that he was shaken. "I woke this morning and I couldn't see anything. I tried sitting up and it took two attempts, the first I was light headed. Killer headache and the skin around my eyes is warm to the touch."

When Evan started cataloging his symptoms, Jennifer stepped into the transporter. While not good, the symptoms, along with his concise telling, did not cause her to run back for medical supplies or call for a team to meet her at Lorne's room. She would wait until she looked him over before making that decision.

It only took Jennifer a few minutes to reach Evan's door. When she rang the chime, announcing herself, she felt her anxiety grow with no response. Touching her ear piece she called to him, "Keller to Lorne, please respond."

"Sorry Doc." Lorne's voice was calm but rueful. "It will take another moment. You can add bruise to hip and shin to the list."

A moment later the door opened, showing Evan, dressed in boxers and a t-shirt shuffling towards his bed, muttering when his foot hit the bottom of the boot laying on the floor. Jennifer jumped forward muttering directions under her breath, loud enough for Evan to hear, quiet enough for him to ignore or pretend to ignore.

As he sat on the edge of the bed, Jennifer got her first look at Evan's face. From mid-brow to below his cheekbone, his face was an angry shade of pink, the eyelids themselves a deeper shade, closer to purple, and swollen. Jennifer pulled a spare set of gloves from her pocket and watched Evan wince as they snapped against her wrist.

"Evan, tilt your head up." Looking closer at his face, she gently traced the edges of where the obvious signs of infection were, almost wincing herself as she felt the heat through the gloves. Taking a step back, she glanced around the room before grabbing a pair of pants from the back of the chair. "Throw some pants on. I need to get some scans." Holding the pants so that they touched Evan's leg, she waited until he had a firm hold on them before she let go.

While Evan pulled his pants on, Jennifer grabbed the pair of running shoes from under the desk, putting the treacherous boots in their place. "Socks?" Jennifer asked.

"Top drawer, on the right."

Responding with a hum, Jennifer grabbed a pair of socks, again holding them so that the rested on his knee until he had a grip on them. As he pulled on his socks, she set the running shoes on the bed next to him. Watching him pull the laces tight on the second shoe, Jennifer lightly touched his shoulder, "Ready?"

After a deep breath, Evan responded with a quiet, "Yeah," before standing. Jennifer took his hand and put it on her shoulder. "No." Evan pulled his hand away. "I'm not walking around like an invalid using you as a guide dog."

"There's nothing wrong with guide dogs. But," she added when Evan started to protest as she picked up his hand again, "this is only to the hallway. From there I'll be walking next to you. You can have a hand on my arm, a hold on my wrist, or on my lower back." As his lips pursed to argue against having guidance at all, Jennifer forestalled his argument with, "Or we can call for a wheelchair."

At his sigh, Jennifer beamed a smile his way, the smile fading when Evan's lack of sight didn't allow a response. Again placing his hand on her shoulder, she walked slowly towards the door and into the hallway, The moment the door swished shut she asked quietly, "Arm, hand or waist?"

"That sounds like a dark meat or white meat question." Jennifer and Evan turned at the sound of a third person's voice. "Jesus, Ev. What the hell happened?" John asked, seeing the angry color's of Evan's face.

"Woke up this way," Evan said with a shrug. "Jen was escorting me to get it looked at. Waist, I guess," he added to Jennifer.

"I'll come with." When Evan opened his mouth to protest, John stepped up to Evan's right side and craned his neck to address Jennifer. "So you and McKay go out last night?"

Jennifer shook her head as she guided Evan's hand to her waist, putting her own on his lower back. "Nope, last night was shift change. I have overnights for the next few weeks. I figured that I would crash today, but we have breakfast planned for tomorrow." Adding a little bit of pressure to her thumb, she 'pushed' Evan to start walking, John following suit on his other side.

"So is that why McKay was so morose last night?"

"He was not," Jennifer said, rolling her eyes.

"Was too. Barely ate. I got his second pudding."

Continuing their banter in the transporter, Jen carefully guided Evan to turn around and face the doors as they shut. "If he was anything last night, he was excited."

John gave Jennifer a little frown, craning his neck to make sure Jennifer saw. "How would you know?"

Jennifer gave him a little smile, "He found a new toy. If we had anything beyond dinner plans last night he would have blown me off anyway. He was jazzed last night, was he not?"

As Jen turned Evan into the infirmary, John smiled, "You saw him before your shift."

"Of course I did. If I don't stop in his lab every once in a while he may forget about me."

"No," Evan said, breaking into their banter as he sat down on the bed Jennifer guided him to, "You don't show up for a few days and he'd figure it out. A bit slower than most as it's social instead of physics, but he'd get there."

John nodded, "What he said." Pulling up a chair, John watched Jennifer move off after a quick smile and a muttered 'thank you'. "So, the way you had your hand around Keller, does Rodney have to be..." John trailed off as Parrish entered the room holding his arm close to his body. "Evan, did Parrish go off-world with your team yesterday?"

"Yeah, why?"

"He just entered the infirmary holding his arm."

~*~-.-~*~-.-~*~

"Doc, what's going on?" Jennifer glanced up from the microscope and winced before stretching her back. John's lip quirked when he saw the line from the viewer across her forehead.

"It's some sort of microscopic insect. The body is treating it like an infection, showing first in those areas that they were exposed. Parrish through a torn cuticle, Lt. Harden through a sparring injury from last week and Evan through his eye as far as I can tell. I haven't figured out how it was not picked up by the scans on their physicals. At that time the insects didn't register on our scans. Now a single one does. I've had to quarantine the three of them as a precaution as these bugs do transfer. I'm just not sure why they got past our scans to begin with."

"Hey," John responded, not liking the guilty tone to her voice. "We can't pick up hibernating wraith in the field, but it's not our fault when we come across one. You couldn't treat it if you didn't know it was there. You know it's there now, so what are our options?"

Jennifer sighed and rubbed her eyes. "Parrish and Harden are the easy ones. We've removed most of the insects from the exposure sites and they are showing remarkable improvement. Their fever's are lower, their blood-work is showing significantly fewer insects. It's Evan who's the hard case. The location of the exposure makes it harder to flush them, his fever started higher than the others and we can't get it down. It's all we can do to keep it from going higher."

Nodding once, John ran a hand over his hair, "And his sight?"

Taking a slow breath, Jennifer met John's eye, "Unknown at this time. I'm hoping that if we can get the swelling down that it will improve. I haven't seen any signs of permanent damage. I'm unsure about what these insects are using as a food supply, but the majority of the damage that they seem to do is through breeding, not through consuming. However the longer it takes for me to find a way to fully flush them from Evan's system, the more likely that his blindness will be permanent."

"Then I'll let you get back to it." Turning back once he got to the door he added, "Keep me updated?"

Jennifer gave a jerky nod as she turned back to her microscope.

~*~-.-~*~-.-~*~

Unable to actually sit with Evan as he was in quarantine, John spent most of his time pacing the hallway between the Jennifer's research lab off of the infirmary and the observation room to check on Evan. Every time that John watched the lab Jennifer was snapping orders and looking at results, queen of her domain. Once or twice he brought a fresh thermos of coffee from the mess and requested a hot meal for everyone, served in the infirmary for a late lunch when he realized that none of the doctors had taken a break since they started.

When Jennifer didn't step out of the lab and the meals had either gotten cold or had been eaten by the other staff, John pulled her from the lab and sat her in front of the cold meal. A quick grateful look was all she managed before she absently picked up the fork, eating while reading over notes. After her fifth or sixth bite she dropped her fork and jumped up, turning around after a few steps to grab her papers before disappearing back into the lab.

John dismissed the urge to have her explain what she just figured out. Whatever it was it would not make things go faster by having Jennifer take time away from whatever tests and simulations that she would have to do before doing anything to Evan and the others. After watching her quietly give orders for a moment John was reminded of Rodney when he was in high form. The ring of authority was in everything she said and her hands pointed this way and that as she assigned tests and trials. Both staffs jumped when their leader was in full genius mode but the staff before him was a more fluid dance, Jennifer a choreographer. Rodney's staff was more jumps and leaps, marionettes directed by a puppeteer, though John would never say such to Radek.

Turning away from the dance before him, John wandered back down the hall to watch Evan for a while.

~*~-.-~*~-.-~*~

"Radiation?" Evan's voice was little more than a rasp, the IV fluids that they were pumping into him did nothing for his dry throat.

Jennifer picked up ice chips and brought them to his mouth. "Low dose, relatively. Same type that the sun of planet M5R-832 gives off."

Evan sucked on the ice, the silence lengthening as the moments passed by. Jennifer was about to decide that he wasn't aware enough to make the decision when he started reaching out his left hand. Taking it in hers, Jennifer waited, watching Evan as he tried to figure out what he wanted to say. "Will I be able to see?" he asked quietly.

"We don't know yet." Jennifer squeezed Evan's hand gently, "We'll do all we can, but you have to be alive to have your sight mean anything. However the last scan was still showing that the issue is the swelling, which is good news if we can get it under control soon."

"Wasn't using my juniors anyway."

Jennifer laughed and squeezed his hand one more time, "Well, it's directed at your other brain, so you should be okay."

A shadow of a smile flitted over Evan's face and he added quietly, "I know that I will be. You won't settle for anything less."

Jennifer took her own hand back before slowly making her way to the designated area to remove the hazmat suit. After hanging the suit up, she stumbled out of the room, slumping against the door the moment it was closed.

John slowly approached and leaned against the opposite wall. "It's been a while since the five bites you took of lunch."

Taking a deep breath before standing up straighter Jennifer looked up. In front of her John held out a powerbar. "Thanks." Jennifer took the bar and slowly unwrapped it, knowing she needed the energy but not particularly fond of the peanut butter flavor.

Waiting until she had taken a bite, John commented, "I thought that doctors were supposed to set an example." Seeing Jennifer's puzzled expression he raised a hand, ticking items off, "Food, sleep, a glass of water. When was the last time that you had any of these?"

The puzzled look cleared and Jennifer studied the Lieutenant Colonel for a moment. "Are you saying that I look like crap?"

A smile flitted across Jennifer's lips as she watched John form an appropriate comment, "You've looked better." John shrugged, "You look like you need a nap."

Jennifer shook her head, "They're getting the last calculations for Evan. They should be ready to set up in here in twenty. I need to be here for that."

Looking down at the now empty wrapper in Jennifer's hands John nodded once, both with understanding and with approval that she got something into her stomach. "So that gives you what, forty minutes before they start?" At Jennifer's wary nod John reached out and grabbed her wrist, dragging her down the hall to the transporter.

"John, where are we going?" John didn't say anything, just pressing the area on the city map to take them near Jennifer's room. As the door opened Jennifer pulled on John's grip. "John, let me go, I have things I have to check before we start."

Ignoring Jennifer's attempts to loosen his grip, John turned down the hallway, continue to drag her along. In front of her doors John turned her around to face him, "You're not going to be any help if you're distracted and tired. I promise I will get you in forty minutes," he glanced at his watch, "at 2208 and not a second later. If you don't answer, I will have McKay override the door to make sure that you get up."

At the stubborn look Jennifer gave him, John laughed, "Doc, on your best day you may have a chance to get me to change my mind. Today is not that day, which is why you need this." With a huff Jennifer turned and opened the door.

Knowing that he was right didn't improve her mood. The bed looked tempting but knowing that if she went down, she would have trouble getting back up she walked past it into the bathroom knowing a shower would be a good way to wake up a bit and kill a bit of time, figuring that she had at least ten minutes if John was monitoring her door to see if she left immediately.

~*~-.-~*~-.-~*~

John stood outside of Jennifer's door and rang the chime, again not receiving a response. Tapping his earpiece he sighed, "Sheppard to Dr. Keller."

"Punctual," came the tinny response.

John's lip quirked at the response, "Office or observation?"

"Smart too." John heard the smile over the earpiece as he plotted to have her door watched for more than five minutes next time. "Observation. We're about to start if you want to be here."

John turned towards the transporter, picking up his normal pace. When he reached observation he saw her wet hair clipped back and after a quick assessment figured that she was better than before, even without sleep. "You were supposed to get a few minutes sleep."

She shook her head, "And I told you that I had things to do before we could start. If I took a nap we wouldn't have been set up in forty minutes but longer. The longer we wait the more we risk Evan's sight."

Fiddling with dials, she leaned over and hit a button to the speakers in the room. "Evan, I know that you've done a full body scan before. That's all that this is going to seem like. The radiation kills the adult insects. We'll have to do this a few times over the next few days. This one should be the longest."

Between the first treatment and the second, Jennifer split her time between the lab and sitting next to Evan's bed while waiting for results. Evan kept trying to get Jennifer to check the swelling in his eyes, but Jennifer insisted that it would take time. However after the second treatment, Jennifer was pleased to see a noticeable reduction of the swelling. Still hesitant about Evan's sight though, she was more cautious when relaying the news to Evan, wanting him to not give up but she also didn't want to give false hope.

After giving the good news to Evan, she stepped from the quarantine room and into a wall. When the wall stepped back Jennifer looked up to see Ronon. "How is he?" Ronon asked with a nod to the door she just came through.

"Better," Jennifer said with a smile. "The insects in his system have decreased dramatically and the swelling around his eyes is going down. I have a few more tests to do before we schedule the next treatment."Absently patting Ronon's arm as she sidled past she added, "He would love to know that you were there, if you want to talk to him."

Not noticing the bemused look on Ronon's face, she continued down the hall on her way to her lab. "She asks the most inarticulate person to sit and talk to the blind man?"

Ronon looked over at John before looking back down the hall where Jennifer disappeared, "She okay?"

"She's had a long two days."

Ronon looked back at John, "Move the morning run to this evening before sparring?"

Holding back a groan, John nodded. "Sounds good."

~*~-.-~*~-.-~*~

Twenty minutes later, John found Jennifer sitting in her lab staring into space. Clearing his throat as he walked in, he watched Jennifer blink slowly as she turned to focus on him. "John," she smiled. "Ev is still improving. In a couple hours we should be able to tell if there was any damage to the eye from the pressure."

Leaning against an empty counter John tilted his head, "Jennifer, should I be worried?"

"What?" Confusion bloomed over Jennifer's face, "No, no, like I said Evan is improving."

"Should I be worried that the other doctors are incompetent. If I came in with a broken bone or a mysterious bug in my system, should I refuse treatment?"

John could see Jennifer's mind trying to catch up with the conversation, her confusion deepening. Her head shook slightly back and forth, "No, we have some of the best doctors from Earth. Any one of them can treat anything, though we all have our sub-specialties, that's what makes us a good team."

"Then why don't you trust them?" John asked, going in for the 'kill'.

Confusion changed to shock in an instant, "What?"

"You're good Doc, probably the best here, that's why they made you CMO. But if you can't trust the others," John shook his head sadly and gave a small shrug saying _What __am __I __to __do__?_

"I trust them," Jennifer stated. As if those were some magic words, John pushed himself off the counter and guided Jennifer to her feet. Without saying anything else he navigated her into the hallway before she understood that he was taking her from her lab. "I need..."

"To sleep," John finished for her. "You said it yourself, Evan is getting better and you trust your staff. Anything urgent they will call you, otherwise Marie said if you don't get 8 hours she's going to sedate you in the infirmary. Dr. Neely concurred, I only have to make the call."

The choice taken away from her, Jennifer allowed herself to guided to her room in a fog. As she walked past her bed to the bathroom, she heard from behind her, "You're beyond a quick revive from a shower. Bed."

Turning, she saw John leaning against the door frame. "I. Have. To. Pee," she said, spacing each word deliberately before turning back to the bathroom leaving John to grin at her back. A few minutes later she emerged from the bathroom to find that John hadn't moved. "You're still here."

Watching her sit on the edge of her bed, John shrugged, "You didn't tell me to get out."

Laying on her side, Jennifer tucked her arm beneath her pillow, her head cradled by both. "Then let me say it now," she mumbled into the pillow. "Get out."

John took the throw from the back of the chair in the room and draped it over her. "Once you're asleep."

"You're a pain, John Shepherd," Jennifer said as she drifted off.

Watching her for a moment, John nodded before quietly leaving the room, "Yeah."

~*~-.-~*~-.-~*~

Entering the mess, John saw Rodney look up, then back down at his tablet. As he got his food, John watched Rodney do the same every time someone entered the room. "She's not coming."

"What? Who?" Rodney's eyes narrowed, "How do you know?"

"Medical emergency causing her to be up 48 hours straight. She just crashed."

"Oh," Rodney said, a little pout starting to form. "I guess she couldn't make it 49 to see me."

"Rodney," John said, putting the fork that was on the way to his mouth down.

Waving his hand, Rodney shook his head, "I know, I know." Sighing he added, "Is she okay?"

"She'll be fine after a solid eight and a meal." Taking a bite, John chewed thoughtfully, "A late lunch probably wouldn't go amiss before her shift starts. Something quick before she checks on Evan."

"Lorne?" Rodney asked. "Wait. I was in my lab all yesterday. What's going on?" As John ate breakfast and filled Rodney in, he mentally scheduled a quick stop of the science lab into his day to make sure Rodney took lunch to Jennifer.


End file.
